Wachtmeister

GDS_STARFURY: Thanks for the information. The link to the site showing Leipzig Plutonium Sphere,inclludes a drawing of the reactor that clearly shows that the heavy water is used as the moderator. Jersey John & Sea Wolf_48: The alternative moderator you mention is probably graphite, a form of carbon. So, an oil type shale with a high carbon content might serve the purpose. The USA Manhatten Project used a pile of graphite blocks as the moderator, hence the term "atomic pile" A fairly complete description of thw Manhatten project my be found here: Manhatten Project Description This site includes some diagrams showing fission and fusion at the atomic level, which should answer Sea Wolf_48's question.

I am not by any stretch of the imagination a nuclear expert. My degree is Chemistry, I have done some Radiation protection work at some nuclear power plants, so I do know a few basics. The rough description above is for a an atomic bomb or fission device. A fission type atom bomb itself can be relatively simple. The Hiroshima bomb called "tall boy" was basically detonated by driving two sub-critical masses of U-235 together to achieve the required critical mass for the explosion. The 2nd operational bomb, "fat man", used a sub-critical spherical mass surrounded by conventional explosive charges that were set off in a precise sequence to compress the U-235 to criticality - then... BOOM. The hard part of fission bomb manufacture is separating and refining the fissile U-235 or, later, Plutonium used for such devices. The so called hydrogen bomb is a fusion device. As I understand it, the active ingredient for the fusion portion is the 3rd isotope of hygrogen, Trittium, which has 2 neutrons and 1 proton making up its nucleus. The fusion bomb converts the excess the mass - left over when hydrogen nuclei are fused to form Helium - into energy in accordance with Einstein's famous equation E=MC2. This is the same reaction that produces the energy from the sun. Hydrogen fusion requires so much energy to initiate, that a small atomic fission device is used as a "trigger" to detonate a fusion bomb.

Sea Wolf_48: Without going,I hope, into too much technical, offer the following by way of clarification in regard to the German, or any, Atomic bomb make up. "Heavy Water" is the common name for Deuterium Oxide, formula D2O. Deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen having one proton and one neutron in the nucleus, while common hydrogen has one proton, 0 neutrons. I believe that the D2O would have been used as a moderator [or neutron absorber]to control the chain reaction within an atomic "pile". The active atomic bomb ingredient is Uranium 235(U-235), rather than U-238. Therefore, the heavy water is not part of the atomic bomb itself. Instead, it is part of the process needed to make sufficient U-235 to achieve critical mass, which, in turn, produces the uncontrolled chain reaction we know as an atomic explosion.

Rambo (Axis) defeated Wachtmeister (Allies +200) I'm 0-1 - No wonder I'm only a Sergeant of artillery.. Glad I didn't pick Hauptmann, or worse, Oberst for a name.

Although the pocket BB's were swept from the seas early in the war, Some of Germany's 10 auxilliary cruiser raiders (also called Q-ships by the RN) lasted until Dec '42. These "stealth raiders" sank a condiderable portion of the 182 ships (1.15 million tons) credited to German WWII surface raiders. Some details follow: {Excerpt From "German Raiders in the Pacific"} Quote: The operations of the German auxiliary cruisers covered the period from April 1940 to December 1942. In all, ten ships were employed, one of them making two cruises. Five were destroyed during their cruises in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, one was destroyed by an explosion and fire in harbor at Yokohama, and another was damaged in the English Channel and returned to Germany. That they were efficient fighting ships of their type was shown by the fact that one raider in three separate actions out-ranged and damaged two British armed merchant cruisers and sank a third, H.M.S. Voltaire. Another raider, the Kormoran, was responsible for the loss with all hands of H.M.A.S. Sydney, though she herself was sunk by that cruiser. Three of the raiders were oil-burning steamships; one was a diesel-electric twin-screw vessel; the others were motor vessels. The largest was of 9,800 tons and the smallest of 3,287 tons gross register. All were officially known by numbers, but these were apparently allotted at random, and the fact that there was a ship No. 45 did not indicate that there were forty-five raiders. They were also given 'traditional' names. The raiders were very well equipped and capable of remaining at sea for at least twelve months, with the assistance of fuel tankers and supply ships, supplemented by oil and stores taken from captured vessels. Great use was made of disguise. Special workshops and mechanics were carried for this purpose and also for the extensive repair work made necessary by long periods at sea. In general the raiders' armament comprised six 5.9-inch guns, a number of small guns, and four or more torpedo tubes; they were fitted with the director system of fire control as well as elaborate wireless telegraphy plants. Most of them carried a small seaplane and several were equipped for minelaying. Whatever their tactics in approaching a victim, the attack was always sudden and ruthless, the primary targets being the ship's wireless room, navigating bridge, and defensive gun. Unquote

Didn't like the USA/UK battleships shelling your house in Lisbon during our game - eh. Agree totally in historical terms. However, in game terms, where the USA and UK combined have the MPP output of Ecuador, The Allies are somewhat forced to take any available MPP source they can get, and there aren't many.

JJ: Isn't the British BB sunk by the U-boat in the Med BARHAM rather than BARNHAM. If any of you all visit Houston, TX, home of the BB Texas, its worth the trip to go through it. As someone mentioned, the Texas is quite old even by WWII standards - comissioned around 1910. It has been very well restored. Ships were built to last in those days. In fact when the Texas was moved to its present location, near the San Jacinto monument a couple of years ago, it was able to raise steam and make the move down the Ship Channel under its own power.

I'm pretty sure a few U-Boats atually did operate in the Med during WWII. Apparently they were able to transit the straits of Gibralter submerged.

Mid 1943: Pretty unreal ending up on the semi - defensive. With L0 air fleets against L3 USSR and L2 USA my MPP advantage is effectively offset. Offensive action is nearly impossible against the Allied air tech advantage. However I can punish or wipe out USSR offensive thrusts, for now. Need the catch up feature of v.106 to kick in soon or as Gen. Patton said in Dec '44 "We can still lose this war". Maybe this is my punishment for previous mismanagement As that renowned student of SC, Rambo, so rightly put it "Air is King", and right now I have a "serf" air force.

July '42: I think I have managed to dissipate the huge advantage of knocking the UK out early. Went after and took Canada - OK Tried to land in the USA - error can't be done with a unit on every coastal square, unless thats all you have to do. Only 3 tech advances despire - near full investment - Russian L3 air is a problem. Apparently, I should have nailed every minor and built up my mpp base higher. MPP base I have would be better except for the air damage drain each turm with my stone age fighters. West - Pulling back and establishing a blockade of the USA - should have done this a year ago East - Stalemate - but not for long with the Russkie build up. Iraq under atach Italians holding Med - Greece and Bulgaria taken - will leave Vichy alone for now - will get for free if Russia tries to flank Iraq

15 may 1941: UK surrenders and USSr immediately declares war on Axis. Sir Winston last seen with a unit of the Home Guard firing his old "broom handle" Mauser pistol st the advance guard of the XIV Panzergruppe

2 Mar 41: London corps reduced to 3. Air unit in Manchester destroyed. Messed up the movement sequence - probably coud have taken Manchester, like my idol Archibald. Spain joins Axis. Will have to watch USSR readiness. USA isolationists still in majority. Winston Churchill receives vote of no confidence form Parliment,. Lord Beverbrook forms interim government.

The game continues. I believe the UK is down to the RAF and little else - we will soon know. 10 November Tranports off the Kent coast Sea Lion is on.

Sea Wolf 48: If enough of the moral, upstanding, tax paying, law abiding citizens of the USA "see the handwriting on the wall", maybe we should take some action to scrub it off. We have gotten fat, lazy and complacent, all too similiar to the Romans. If we fail learn from history we may well be condenmed to repeat it.

I don't mean to suggest that the German bomber fleet was incapable of doing considerable damage to the UK. However, in strategic and SC terms, I believe the actual German bomber fleet is better represented as part of the standard air fleets. The problem seems to be that level 0 air fleets with level 0 long range air are limited to the historical range of the Luftwaffe 1940 era fighters, while the actual German bombers had longer range. However, unescorted daylight German bomber raids over the UK were regularly decimated, hence the switch to night bombing around Sept '40. It would be interesting to speculate how much additional resources the Germans could have had available for Barbarossa if they had not experienced the heavy air losses, resulting from bombing the UK until May '41. Germany could have limited its raids on the UK to "night intruder" missions against airfields, to good effect with very low losses. The UK after Dunkirk, until at least 1942 or 1943 was in no shape to intervene on the European mainland to any great strategic effect.

A note for TCP/IP hosts with router firewalls. I have my home network router configured with port 6530 enabled for data pass-through. However, at least in my case, the SC host joining screen dispays only only my internal IP, not the list of possible IP's referenced in the "Quick TCP/IP How To Guide". The internal IP will not work. Instead the external (or internet)IP must be used. The external IP can be found in most router status windows, or by running the MS Windows utility "ipconfig".

Hubert: Was your intent that the curiser strength for 1941 Barbarossa be set at 10, like 1939 Fall Weiss, or some other level?

Germany's bombers were resonably modern, but they were not strategic bombers, either historically or in game terms. For example, the German bomber fleet consisted mostly of the following: Do 17 aka "the flying pencil" - converted Lufthansa fast airliner/mail hauler. Decent speed, light bomb load, very poor defensive armament. He 111 - At best a medium bomber, somewhat slow -medium bomb load, poor defensive armament. Ju 88 - By far the best machine. Very good speed, decent bomb load, better, but not great, defensive armament. Could also operate in dive bomber mode. Unfortunately, for the Germans very few were produced until around 1941. The only German 4-engine "bomber" was the Condor, also a converted airliner design. With its weak structural design and light bomb load, the Condor's sole virtue was its long range, which was put to good use scouting for, and attacking convoys, in the North Atlantic. However, the attrition from both enemy fire and structural failure was high. None of the German bombers were a match for the cababilities of the UK Lancaster, or USA B-17 and B-24. USA medium tactical bombers like the B-25 and B-26 were more capable than any German bomber, except maybe the JU 88. Germany's bomber fleet was well suited for tactical interdiction and infrastructure bashing relatively close to the front lines, as long as the Germans had complete air superiority. As the Battle of Britian illustrated, the German bomber fleet was not suited to a "true" strategic bombing role. Once Goering decided to switch to Bombing UK cities instead of airfields, Chain Home radar sites, and other military targets, the Battle of Britian was lost and Sea Lion no longer possible. In game terms, I think is is proper for the Axis to start without strategic bombers in the standard game. If Germany decides on "real" strategic bombers in SC, which they did not do in WWII, they can research and build strategic bombers, or have them "modded in" with the Campaign Editor.

Aug-Sept 1940 West: Monty taken prisoner, treated will full military courtesy by Rundstedt's staff, and reassigned as officer commanding the Royal Army POW's at Stalag VI. Isolated corps destroyed. UK lands corps in Brest, which is immediately attacked by panzer units - he won't last long, but we could not get any air in range this turn 2:00 AM in Berlin - Sven1969 calls break until Wednesday or Thursday. - Looking forward to it.

11 Aug 40 West: France surrenders. Monty trapped on the Normandy Canadian 1st Army surrenders in Vichy. Additional British corps trapped west of Paris. Med: All quiet - Il Duce considers his next conquest.

June 1940 West: Anglo-French fleet reduced to 1 strength Feench cruiser. Western Baltic now called Eisenboden See (Ironbottom Sea) Good, but slow, tough progress towards Paris.

April-May 1940 West French line is slowly breaking dowm French center army eliminated corps punches into gap and beats up UK air unit. Whole Anglo - French navy in the Baltic! Luftwaffe and subs dish out heavy damage. BB And CV sunk. Still have 1 sub 1 cruiser.

3 March 40 West: Heavy air attacks significant, but not fatal damage to Luftwaffe. Trench warefare on the Belgian border. Med: Italian fleet sinks UK cruiser -- reduces UK CV to 3. No Italian ships with more than 3 damage Transport lands back on Malta. 31 March: West: French BB ambushed by sub in the Denmark strait. BB in the channel reduced to 4 Med: Fleet battles result in 1 French BB sunk 1 UK BB severely damaged. Italian cruiiser Fiume reduced to 2 - headed for Taranto. No Italian total losses yet/

7 Jan 40: West: Denmark surrenders. France forming double line at the Belgian border - 2nd line is mostly 4 air fleets. Med: Carrier spotted off Sicily - BB at Valetta, Malta

26 November 39: Poland surrendered last turn - operated up to the French border. DOW on Denmark.